On Saturday morning, my beloved cat passed away suddenly. He woke us up, meowing strangely, but was hiding. When we finally found him and tried to figure out what was wrong, he went downhill pretty quickly. We rushed him to the emergency room, but it was too late.
His death was unexpected. The night before, he seemed his usual self. No signs of distress. What was more unexpected was how hard his loss was for the entire family. I never thought losing a pet would be so difficult. He was part of my daily life for 12 1/2 years and suddenly he was gone. Every morning, he’d meow at me for treats before my eyes were even fully open. When I typed, he’d often curl up in the chair behind my back or sit behind my head on the sofa and chew on my hair. Strange, but how I miss it now.
Here’s a picture of my beautiful rescue kitty my sister brought to me when he was a kitten.
Losing a beloved pet is like losing your best friend. You feel lost and aimless for a while and find yourself listening and sometimes even hearing them, although you know their gone. A sudden loss, like the one you experienced, can be the most devastating. I had my toy poodle for over sixteen years and the day I had to let her go was one of the worst days of my life. I eventually built a tribute page for her that has links to The Rainbow Bridge along with other sites dealing with the loss of a pet. It still makes me cry when I visit it, but I also find it very consoling to realize there are others who feel just as strongly about their animals as I do. I’ll give you the link, in case you need a little support at this time. Most of the poems are about doggies, since that’s what I lost, but they apply to kitties as well. Virtual hug. http://kathrynrblake.com/home/petloss.html
Thank you for the kind words, Kathryn, and the link to your site. We’re waiting for his ashes and will have a small ceremony and will probably read Rainbow Bridge.
I’m so sorry you lost your furry family. I know how hard it is. We’ve been rescuing cats regularly since I was 14, and I couldn’t begin to count how many we’ve found homes or even how many became family. This past July, I finally trapped in a carrier the stray female I’d spent four long years getting her to trust me enough that she’d go into the carrier to eat. The next morning we took her to the Humane Society to be spayed. She’d never be an indoor cat – she sprayed her territory like a male – so she was going to continue being our outdoor only cat. (We built her insulated forts each winter, putting in the 18 hour hand warmers hunters use for when it was extremely cold.) The vet at the Humane Society opened her to perform the surgery, but she was so full of cancer that they had to euthanize her instead. He said it was a testament to how well we cared for her that it wasn’t showing on the outside just how sick she was. (We fed her dry food and a half a can of wet food every day, and leftover meat whenever we had it.) I sobbed, crying so hard I doubled over, and then into my mom’s shoulder I just kept repeating, “I never got to pet her, Mom. I never even got to pet her.” For weeks, I’d go to the backdoor and expect to see her there waiting for breakfast, and then cry when she wasn’t there. There are still mornings I look for her. I’d named her Peaches not long after she showed up in the neighborhood, and she knew her name. I still miss her. I miss every cat we’ve had and lost over the years. So I truly feel your loss.
Think of rescuing another kitty. No other will replace him in your heart, but a new one to love will help ease the loss.
Thank you, Candice. Yes, we will definitely get a couple of rescue kitties when we are ready.